Interface query

[magnate]

Now in my second week of this terrifyingly addictive game. Won first game, abandoned #2 after too many forging mistakes - why is alchemy the only thing in the game which you can't undo?? Very upsetting the first time you find that out.

Anyway, on to my major query: I don't understand the design logic behind choosing the races in a game before choosing the map. I don't even know how many races to choose before I've looked at the map! If I look at a scenario, it sets all the races and difficulty levels to the ones contained in that scenario, even if I then change to a different map! Can someone explain to me why we don't choose the map first, then the participating races?

Also, I once found a link to a doc which listed all the magic sites in the game - could someone repost that for me please (my google skills have deserted me). Is there also a list of all the races' starting assets (units, commanders, magic sites etc.)?

Finally, why does this forum require cookies to log in? Cookies are EVIL. I don't mind if you want to allow some people to use them, that's their business, but surely the rest of us could log in without?

TIA,

CC
P.S. Almost forgot - is there any way to remove a cursed item? I made and wore the armour of twisting thorns, then found I couldn't take it off!